Class One: Introduction

Dept. of Political Science

Mikiko Eto, Ph.D.

A Short Introduction to Japanese Politics

Agenda

1. Purpose 1. Schedule

2. Evaluation (credit)

3. A Bit of Work Assessing Japanese politics (Group) discussion Any question is welcome anytime. Don’t hesitate to disturb me!!

Purpose of This Class

• Providing a brief introduction to Japanese politics

• Consisting of five subjects:

Japanese political thought

Japanese development in political theories

Politics and policy-making process in post-war Japan

Japanese women in politics

Japanese-style welfare states

• Aiming to understand an overview of Japanese politics and to stimulate your interests in politics in Japan

• Encouraging you to study its more specific subjects according to your interests

Schedule

date lecturer’s name subjects

Sept. 29, Oct. 6 and 13

Hiroshi Watanabe Politics and Political Thought in Tokugawa and Meiji Japan

Oct. 20, 27 and Nov. 10

Atsushi Sugita Politics and Political

Theories in Japan

Nov. 17, 24 and Dec. 1

Jiro Yamaguchi History of Post-War Japanese Politics

Dec. 8 and 15 Mikiko Eto Japanese Women in Legislatures

Dec. 22, 12 Jan. 12 and 19 (2017)

Taku Yamamoto Japanese Welfare State in

International Comparison

Literature relevant to this class

1. There is no text book.

2. Each lecturer will introduce you some references related to his/her subject.

1. Book on Japanese politics in general;

Christopher Goto-Jones, Modern Japan: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press

A Way of Evaluating Your Attainment Assignment

1. You must write short essays about five subjects each—five essays in total.

2. One essay needs to consist of 500 words (400 ~ 500). Based on our lectures in the class, you can write it freely according to your interests, ideas or opinions. It can also include your comments and questions on our lectures. 3. The deadline and presentation By January 30, 2017, at 17:00 Sending Mikiko Eto by email attachment Email: eto@hosei.ac.jp

Think about Democracy in Japan and Other Countries! Global Democracy Ranking

(http://democracyranking.org/wordpress/)

Index of measuring democracy Sources of data Weighing

Political rights Freedom House

25%

Civil liberties Freedom House

25%

Global Gender Gap Report World Economic Forum

25%

Press freedom Freedom House

10%

Corruption Perceptions Index Transparency International

10%

Change of the head of government last 13 years, peaceful

2.5%

Political party change of the head of government last 13 years, peaceful

2.5%

Short Group Work The top 10 words to describe Japanese people according to foreigners Sourced from “Japan Today”, on Aug. 28, 2013 https://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/the-top-10-words-to-describe-japanese-people-according-to-foreigners)

1. Polite 2. Punctual 3. Kind 4. Hard-working 5. Respectful 6. Shy 7. Intelligent 8. Grouping 9. Formal 10.Clean

Make your top 10 words to describe Japanese politics!

1. Grouping

2. Group Work

(1) Deciding your group name

(2) Selecting a leader

(3) Discussion

(4) Deciding your top 10 words

3. Presentation

The Students’ Description of Japanese Politics

The Class Students described Japanese politics by the following words (The students were divided into three groups) Group To-Know Abe; LDP; Capitalism; Conservative; Stable; Old; Strikes; Patriarchy; Non- Democracy Group Cho-Harano Bureaucracy; Conservatives; Forcible; Strong; Money+ Formal; Class- Centered; Grouping; Emperor Group Hase-Wata Men-Centered; Efficient; Boring; Clean; Unexciting; Decentralized; Irrational; Stable